Easter is right around the corner, and many of you are contemplating what to make for Easter dinner. Hopefully, you will choose ham! The next question is, “where do I buy my ham?” And, is it okay to buy my ham from the grocery store? The short answer is YES!
Consumer Choices
I love the fact there are so many food choices for consumers. However, one of the misnomers that consumers may not know is a lot of the meat (especially pork) in the grocery store meat counter is raised by family farmers. Yes, some farms are small and some are large. But they are family farms.
I am proud to be grocery store farmer!
Here is a picture of pigs in one of our barns.
We choose to sell our hogs to Hormel Foods located in Austin, MN. (Check out a Behind the Scenes tour of Hormel ). From the meatpacking plant, the packaged meat is sold to grocery stores, which makes me a grocery store farmer.
Why don’t we sell locally or privately?
It just doesn’t work for us.
Our barns are used in a manner where our pigs are all about the same age. On our farm, it is a good management method that helps with the health and management of our pigs. In addition, we don’t have access to meat processing facilities to process the number of pigs needed at one time. We have a few local meat lockers and they process less than 10 a day. Not nearly enough.
Occasionally, we use our local meat locker, where we process a couple of pigs that fill our personal freezers.
Are locally raised animals better?
It’s really about personal choice. And I support that.
I hear many people say they want to know their farmer. And, yes, I am glad those options are available. But know, when you are perusing the meat counter at your local grocery store, the meat you buy most likely comes from a family farm and could very well be local (and if it’s the Hormel brand, it may have come from my farm!) The most important thing is to know is pork is good and nutritious, no matter where it came from. And don’t feel guilty about your food choices.
Old Fashion Ham Recipe
Are you looking for a ham recipe? Check out the Old Fashioned Glazed Ham Recipe!
